Historically, foil has been used for centuries as a means of adornment and decoration. A malleable metal, such as gold, was typically pounded into very thin sheets (i.e. foil) and then applied to armor, letters, and various types of furniture or artwork. What used to be reserved for the rich now has become a staple of the masses thanks to substantive improvements in technology.
Foil is still expensive; however, it is now more common to find various types of foil with a base of aluminum in present mechanical processes. These foil works are ubiquitous and most often seen in commercial packaging, books, wedding announcements, cards, and the like. Notwithstanding the progression of foiling technology, the current foiling processes are not without their drawbacks. Most often, vast amounts of foil are wasted in the printing or stamping process. This is due to the high speed at which the presses run, which is typically referred to as “press speed.” This continuous foiling process is fast and simple, but as mentioned results in a substantial waste of foil and thus a waste of money.
Even still, the cold foiling process has remained fairly unchanged for some time. Typically, a substrate is fed through a pair of rollers which apply an adhesive to the substrate. A separate foil web is then merged with the adhesive laden substrate and the two are pressed together through another set of rollers. The adhesive then cures on its own, or is cured by another means such as ultraviolet light. The excess foil is then stripped away from the substrate and the substrate continues down a conveyor for further treatment or packaging. The excess foil is collected by a collection core. Once the foil has run its course through the press, it cannot be reused.
Thus, there is a need for a more efficient process in order to reduce said foil waste and manufacturing costs. The current invention meets and exceeds these needs and objectives.
Review of Related Technology:
U.S. Patent Application 2013/0075040 pertains to systems, machines and products for producing foil relief. The system includes apparatuses for placing a foil on a curable adhesive deposited on a substrate when the curable adhesive is substantially non-tacky, and applying energy to the adhesive deposited on the substrate while pressing the foil to the adhesive to cause the adhesive to become tacky and to adhere to the foil. The adhesive becomes substantially fully cured prior to completion of the pressing of the foil to the adhesive deposited on the substrate. In some embodiments, the system may further include one or more energy sources for pre-curing the curable adhesive prior to placing the foil on the adhesive to initiate the curing process of the adhesive and manipulate a viscosity level of the adhesive, with the pre-cured adhesive remaining substantially non-tacky. The curable adhesive includes one or more of, for example, a radical type adhesive and/or a cationic adhesive.
U.S. Patent Application 2012/0193024 pertains to a material deposition technique for transferring material to a substrate. The material may be a foil on a carrier and the substrate may be printable paper. A computer-controlled, material application subsystem is provided having a material roller assembly including one or more material pressing rollers. The entire assembly is configured for controlled rotation such that the material pressing rollers alternately engage and disengage an impression cylinder. In a first rotatable position, the material roller assembly is rotated so that one of the material deposition rollers over which the material carrier is fed engages the impression cylinder and deposits the material onto the substrate as it passes beneath the roller. In a second rotatable position, the material roller assembly is rotated so as to disengage the material roller from the impression cylinder thereby precluding deposition of material onto the substrate as it passes beneath the roller.
Various devices are known in the art. However, their structure and means of operation are substantially different from the present disclosure. The other inventions fail to solve all the problems taught by the present disclosure. The present invention and its embodiments enable a foil web to be used repeatedly on a single pass through a press. The foil web is positioned to minimize waste while not comprising the speed and effectiveness of the press. At least one embodiment of this invention is presented in the drawings below and will be described in more detail herein.